InsaneJournal

The idea to train Eli in swordfighting was a good one; it wasn't, however, an easy one. The awkwardness was palpable after the one-sided declaration of love incident and likely would be for some time. There was also the matter of competing styles. Del fought like a dragon in a human's body, all power and relentlessness. Cayden fought like a bastard fae taught to survive in a cruel court, his movements calculated and precise. Together, they were the perfect balance, but they couldn't exactly teach Eli how to be two very different fighters.

They had been at this sometime, with the quiet woods around them dappled in early morning sunshine. The clearing was small but close to the Crossed Quills and its waypoint. Sweat dampened the edges of Cayden's pale hair, making it stand up chaotically when he pushed a hand through it.

"Perhaps we should switch you to a longsword now," he said, after the fourth time he'd disarmed Eli in a row. "Your form is good, but I think a shortsword is allowing me to get too close." He'd hoped to use Eli's long limbs to his advantage but they might have to build up to that. "Forgive me, I am better at teaching shapeshifting skills."

Instead of picking his sword back up, Eli just wanted to go lay on the ground next to it instead. It wasn’t about being in shape, he was in shape. But the muscles used here, along with the muscle memory they both had compared to his? He was bad at it. Swords did not come naturally to him. Magic didn’t come naturally to him either, and he’d given up on that when his schooling ended.

He wasn’t entirely sure how long he’d have to do this before he could give up on it too, but Eli was practically counting down the days. He had given in too easily, because they could have convinced him to do just about anything after the love-disaster. But there was already regret on his face as he stood in this humid environment sweating and sore already.

“Or,” Eli leaned over to retrieve the sword, but took his time doing it. He hated the weight of it, it didn’t feel like an extension of his arm, he just felt clumsy. “You could just say that it’s user error and that it’s hopeless and maybe I should just stick to being the bard of the group. Next enemy that comes after me, I’ll just sing a song, ok?”

Del should have been banned from training Eli. Not because of the awkward confessional that had left the lingering tension he couldn't seem to unravel behind, but because he was a terrible instructor. He had been snapping short corrections from the side line, pacing when he realized he was being unreasonable, and eventually falling into a crouch, fingers steepled in front of his mouth as Cayden continued to puncture through Eli's defenses. Much like many of his memories, this whole thing was deja vu. He had seen them do this before.

That was likely why Del seemed irritable when Eli wasn't picking swordplay up quicker. He wanted him to be able to defend himself if Del wasn't around. When he might not be. It had put him in a sour mood to think about it.

With a huff, he was pushing on his knees to standing as Eli's switched swords, and approached him in three quick strides. "I have seen bards wield swords as well, you are not an exception to the rule. Not all beasts can be sated by music," Del said, coming up behind Eli, his own eyes locking with Cayden's across the small space from him. Del had, once, been one of those beasts. Cayden had seen him countless times that way, in another life.

He was pressing at Eli's elbow, providing a counter weight as he lifted the long sword. His other hand was on Eli's hip, twisting his stance. "You need to provide the least amount of space for someone to hit you. And your weight needs to be on your back foot when—"

Something vibrated under his feet, so plainly obvious that Del's attention immediately snapped to the ground. "Did you feel that?"

"You are not hopeless," Cayden scowled. "These kinds of skills take time. Just like learning an instrument."

Del's teaching method was not Cayden's favorite. Not because it was entirely bad, but because it was distracting. A glowering and demanding dragon was apparently something Cayden had a hard time ignoring. Particularly when all of his fiery attention was on Eli. Cayden pushed forward as Del crowded up behind their student. He reached to cover Del's hand on Eli's hip, as if two people directing Eli's movements would be better than one.

It was possible he was just getting distracted. He was also so damned distracted by them. But the rumbling ground was strange enough to pull his focus away from Eli's grip on the sword.

"I…something is coming," he murmured, dropping his eyes to the ground. While his animal senses were helpful in knowing something was underground, it couldn't possibly have prepared him for what burst through the ground, driving the three of them back in a cloud of dirt and debris.

Eli blew out an annoyed breath. He didn’t want to be fighting, he wanted to be making out on the lush forest floor like some fae fantasy. Surely Cayden could have appreciated that, even if Del wouldn’t like the imagery? “We could be having a lot more fun with me sandwiched between you two if we put away the training swords and got out the real--” Eli cut off when he felt the rumble beneath his feet, a few seconds after the other two had clearly picked up on it.

He stumbled a little, into Cayden, and farther away from Del. That wasn’t optimal, even if he really didn’t want to be doing this sword training, he wasn’t keen on being swallowed whole by an earthquake, either. Did they even have earthquakes on Vallo? Usually it was just some giant monster attacking.

Shit.

As soon as Eli thought that into the universe, the ground opened up below the three of them, and instead of being sucked down into the dirt, it quickly built up to a large mound and the three were thrown off-balance and away from it as a large black creature burst through. It was probably record time that Eli dropped his sword, and he knew he’d be hearing about that later but it wasn’t where his focus was as he got flung away from both of them. “Oh are you fucking kidding me. You two better not have planned this for some field training, because I--” He was now on the ground and rolling away from being stepped on as a giant ant appeared in between all of them. “Fuck this, man.”

Goddamn ants. When Del was a dragon—and he still was one, but when his body reflected it more accurately—most people and things looked like ants to him. Tiny, easily squashable, insignificant. It felt like karma now to be on the opposite end of that, where he was the prey of some angry, hard-bodied insects who had surprised them. Del liked that even less.

"Not us! Your sword—" Del shouted, recovering quickly from being nearly knocked flat on his back. He could barely see Cayden and Eli around the mound, and he didn't know who to go to first. Having to choose like this felt impossible and frustrating, but they had been here training Eli to fight. He knew that Cayden could hold his own until Del got to him, and he hoped it wasn't the wrong decision. He hoped it would not result in the same fate when Del had made a similar choice centuries ago.

Del hollered at the giant ant to get its attention off of Eli and Cayden and was rushing it before he had a chance to realize what an absolutely stupid idea this was. But he made stupid decisions all the time, in order to protect the people he loved. He probably should have grabbed for his starlight sword. He probably should have picked up Eli's dropped one. He probably should have done a lot of things before grappling the ant's pincers which seemed like the biggest threat.

Refusing to let go and digging his heels into the dirt, Del was losing ground quickly as the ant pushed against him. He slid, then slid again. He wouldn't be able to hold it. Go! Del shouted in their minds, Cayden, get him out of here, now.

In cougar form, Cayden had impeccable balance. In this body, he was embarrassingly uncoordinated at times. Was he still more graceful than a human? Yes, but that wasn't the point when he was being thrust backwards away from Eli and Del and knocked unsteadily around. He managed to keep his feet until a second ant broke the surface and brought a tree down with it.

"Watch out!" He cared less about Eli dropping his sword than he should. He was still a beginner and fighting giant ants was easily an intermediate affair. Del was thankfully - and unsurprisingly - quicker to Eli's side, but the first ant was just as fast. Cayden was forced to swing his own sword to keep the second ant's mandibles from closing around his head. The ant pulled up on its back legs and made an unholy sound, blocking Cayden's view of the other two. Del's command in his head was alarming.

Do not be an idiot. We are not leaving you he growled as he dodged the second ant again and rolled to get a better view of Del's fight.

“Fuck the sword!” Eli shouted back, because shouting seemed easier in that moment than it did to yell in their heads. Because he did, in fact, leave the sword on the ground and spirits even knew where it went. Instead, Eli found himself scrambling on the ground backwards, away from the ants but not too far.

Because even if he wasn’t the fighter they were, he wasn’t about to leave either of them. He had a few things at his disposal, and shot a beam of fire at the side of the ant rearing up over Cayden. Eli knew both of them could handle themselves, but there was still that instinct inside of him that wanted to help, wanted to protect.

It was the least he could do, if he couldn’t verbalize that very well. The bolt hit its mark, but wasn’t strong enough to do more than make the giant insect hiss and back off slightly. Hopefully with enough space to give Cayden a little breathing room. Eli pulled himself to his feet and backed up against a still-standing tree and took a deep breath to focus more magic into his hand. He didn’t have enough time before Del was surrounded by a third ant. Mesties, behind you!

Why did no one listen to him? Why were they both so insistent on staying in the path of danger? He suspected it was because he had told Eli, not that long ago, that the reason he did it, was love. That protecting them would always be at the core of his entire being, in every moment and in every life. When he failed them, when he had lost them, it had fundamentally changed Del in every way. And while he couldn't put words to these things now, Del would remind himself not to be a goddamn hypocrite in these situations.

He growled, deep and utterly draconic, when they refused to leave him behind, and it gave him enough adrenaline to push against the ant, as Eli and Cayden took care of the other. Like taking a bull by its horns, Del slammed its head down toward the ground, ripping one of the chittering mandibles off and chucking it to the side. He had enough time to see Eli backed against the tree and Cayden just out of his range, before the warning went off. Behind him. Behind him was—

In a moment, Del was flying. Also in that same moment, Del had that idiotic thought that this was actually nice. He had missed being able to take to the air, with nothing but sky rushing around him. But rushing around him now was the hard impact of the ground and the splintering trees. There was a crack so loud that he assumed it was the hard wood of the trunk, but no. Pain followed, a gasping ,consuming pain that radiated down his spine. Del had cracked, and the sour coppery taste of blood flooded this mouth.

But at least the ant that tossed him had the wherewithal to be kind and leave him at Eli's feet. He smiled, stupidly up at Eli before attempting the impossible: getting back up to be his shield. Cayden, Cayden please. Del wasn't even sure what he was begging for at this point, but he was desperate for him to do it. Save himself, save Eli, get them out of there. Del just needed them safe.

This was all spiraling out of Cayden's control too quickly. It felt like the assassins in their apartment all over again. The ant closest to him reared up when Eli struck it with magic and it chaotically sliced a tear through Cayden's shirt with its mandibles, but it didn't do any real damage as it fell backwards. The ant wasn't as lucky. Cayden chopped viciously at it with his sword. There was a gush of blood out of the creature as it chittered and shrieked, but Cayden was too busy dodging away on nimble feet, his gaze focused on Eli and Del.

That means he had a very good view of Del soaring through the air and landing so hard it made Cayden's teeth clench. He wasn't the empath in this trio, but he felt Del's pain all the same. Maybe it was the bond. Maybe it was a hundred years of watching that face and knowing every beloved inch.

He felt a sudden vivid clarity. What came next was the sharp sting of old memories carving through his thoughts - a dragon's body of his own, golden and sleek, and powers he didn't have in this faerie form. It was only a few heartbeats and yet he felt winded.

Eliphas, hold onto him, Cayden mentally ordered in a rush. He reached out for Del's power and shadow stepped from one end of the clearing to the other, passing by - or through - all three of their attackers to land in front of Del and Eli like a princely wall. The ants roared. They lunged forward as a unit. Cayden didn't have time to turn and fight and there was blood at Del's mouth so he simply pressed a frantic hand to Del's cheek and another to Eli's shoulder and he poured all of his will into stepping as far away from this stupid bloody clearing as he could get.

Eli barely had time to do as Cayden ordered, but he did it. He scrambled forward and wrapped both arms around Del’s shoulders, holding as tight as he could without causing more pain to the dragon draped across his lap now. He wasn’t sure what he’d pictured - maybe Cayden shifting into something giant and flying them away? Which would have been hot as fuck.

But this was just as hot, as they vanished in a shadow, and their bodies felt as if they were flying, yet they didn’t land, merely reappeared away. Far enough away that Eli didn’t even see the ants anymore, instead all he saw were some cobblestones and well-beaten paths. The road to Crossed Quills.

When they were finally done moving, Eli loosened his hold on Del’s shoulders and dropped his head down to rest against Del’s neck. “Holy shit I think I have motion sickness.” He was pretty sure he wasn’t going to throw up, at least, but he needed a second for his head to stop spinning. Del being there, in his arms, helped right him a little, and he glanced up to look down Del’s body. “Show me how bad it is.”

Del could have done it. He could have gotten up, he could have kept fighting until there wasn't a breath left in his body protecting the both of them. He had done it before, he would do it again. It was all so simple, when he put his addled dragon mind to it. But before he could do the impossible—because that's what this was, impossible, his legs weren't moving in the way he needed them to—Cayden was there in a shadowy rush. The tug, deep inside his pool of white-hot energy, was pulsing as Cayden latched to his magic.

Take it, take it, take it, Del was saying to himself, to them, in his mind, outloud, he didn't know. But he registered the arms around his shoulders, the hand on his cheek, the warmth of the both of them so close. If he was going to die again, this would be the most pleasant way to go.

But the suffocating noise of the three ants coming for them was abruptly gone. The ground underneath him was smooth and worn. Del was looking up at a different patch of sky, and the realization that Cayden had done it again—that Eli and Cayden had both been able to use the magic that was resolutely theirs and shared—bolstered him.

"You did it," Del mumbled out to Cayden, as he tried to sit up in Eli's arms. Oh the pain was back, but he tried to do the annoying thing and ignore it. His face gave everything away. "It's not—it's not bad, it's..." He gestured to his shirt, his side where his ribs were. Breathing was agony and he assumed somewhere in that general vicinity might have been the cause.

"You did it. I just borrowed from you." Cayden felt the power leave him in a rush as he let go of it. His stomach agreed with Eli and he had to close his eyes for a beat just to settle the world into one place. Then he too was examining Del.

"You did not see yourself crumple to the ground," he growled. He was hesitant to make it worse, but stubborn enough to lift Del's shirt. There was a mottled bruise forming there already, so large it would cover all Del's left side and up over his pectoral muscle even still. The pincers had indented into his skin but it looked as if the damage was - worryingly - on the inside. "It is unclear how bad it is. But this," Cayden reached up to swipe the blood at Del's mouth away with his thumb, "suggests it is not something to be treated lightly."

His gaze shifted to Eli and he leaned towards him, hazel eyes soft with new memories. "You did well back there. With your magic. Thank you."

Eli didn’t let go of Del. But he also didn’t have the strength to hold him down, so really Del could have sat up as quickly as he liked. He did try to pull him back - they didn’t have any ants coming that he could see, surely they could take a few minutes of rest before they had to move him, right? That seemed sensible.

“We should get you to a healer,” Eli agreed with Cayden, which wasn’t unusual even in normal circumstances, but the face he made when Cayden lifted up Del’s shirt and Eli glanced down at the bruises just solidified it. “You’ve probably got broken ribs, and maybe some internal bleeding? I know you heal quick but--”

But they both worried about losing him. Eli, especially, in this moment, had some panic flash across his face even at the idea of losing Del, right now. They’d just found each other, it felt like. A year was not nearly enough time for them, not when he’d had flashes of things and was starting to piece it all together, slowly but surely. Del was making him nervous with injuries, Cayden was making him blush with compliments. Eli’s face was heated and his body felt warm and everything felt tingly. “I did okay, thanks. I love you idiots, so I’d do it again. Does this mean I can stop practicing with the sword?”

When Cayden's thumb came away from his mouth, Del looked confused. Certainly that wasn't his blood, certainly that didn't come from him. He had stopped his attempt to sit up at their worrying expressions, disoriented in a way that didn't lessen, but didn't lay back down. Like he wasn't sure if he should trust their concern or what his body was saying, which was, indeed, screaming in pain, but he was used to it and tended to ignore it on most days.

Probably a terrible thing to do right now, given the circumstances. Breathing hadn't suddenly become easier because he had stupidly decided to disregard his injuries. In fact, his mouth felt stiff with the taste of metal and he turned to the side and spat blood into the ground. "Right," Del said, wincing as he tried to wave them off. "I'll see a healer, just stop—stop looking at me like that. Both of you."

He was determined to get upright though, to prove that all of this was an overreaction; Del could take on a few giant ants as long as they didn't use him like a rock in a slingshot. He'd walk himself to a healer out of sheer stubbornness, even if every step was excruciating. But then Eli had said the sweetest three words and his whole body stiffened, entranced and subdued, because going anywhere else in the moment didn't matter.

Del was lightheaded with the bright, new knowledge of love. The smile he gave Eli was beaming, pleased, and a little wobbly as the dizziness returned right beside the pain. He glanced up to Cayden, as if to confirm he heard it too. Eli loved them.

"You do?" was all Del got out before his words felt slippery on his tongue, then heavy, and then everything was so dark. Oh, Del was passing out. He didn't even get to tell Eli that he could stop practicing with swords. For today, at least.

Cayden had enough time to smile - relieved and pleased - and even open his mouth to say something before he had to catch Del's heavy body before it toppled sideways into the dirt. He snorted a little laugh and looked up at Eli from his crouch.

"Well. That was effective. You are two for two today." His gaze was too intense for the lighthearted words. He broke eye contact to bend down, gingerly ease Del over his shoulder, and then stood up, looking like it hardly took any effort at all. "I love you too, for the record." He was back to staring with bright faerie eyes and he made sure to lean very close to Eli as he spoke, despite the dragon on his shoulder. "I suppose we can put off training for at least today. Just watch my back while I carry this lovely fool to a healer. You left your sword back in the clearing anyway."